© SMAQ . Pubblicata il 28 Luglio 2005.

Located in a mixed-used area near the centre of Hameln, the proposed fire station is a truly infrastructural building: it claims the disused railway dam as a secondary ground level and acts as a sound barrier for the residential neighbourhood.

© SMAQ . Pubblicata il 28 Luglio 2005.

The smooth transition from the fire fighters’ common rooms, housed within a cantilevering roof to the fire engines in the garages below and further to site of action, determines the spatial and structural logic of the design. Organised along an interior road – linking entrance and exit – the fire station is viewable from and integral to the city fabric.

© SMAQ . Pubblicata il 28 Luglio 2005.

This connectivity correlates with an interior vertical transparency and airiness, which is set by an alternating rhythm of light lanterns between the constructive bays. Daylight penetrates and diagonal visual relationships emerge revealing the vivid omnipresence of the red fire engines.

© SMAQ . Pubblicata il 28 Luglio 2005.